You may also have unexplained weight loss, fever, night sweats, loss of appetite and tiredness or fatigue. If TB has affected other parts of your body, the symptoms may vary. Your health care provider will do a TB assessment and order the appropriate tests. There may be a cost depending on the reason for your TB test s. Your health care provider uses a tuberculin skin test or TB skin test to look for TB infection. It does not tell whether the TB bacteria are latent or active. The TB skin test results, your reason for testing and your general health may mean you need further TB testing.
Further testing could include a TB blood test, chest x-ray or sputum. A chest x-ray and sputum are usually used to test for active TB disease.
A chest x-ray is a picture of your lungs that your health care provider examines to see if TB bacteria are growing in your lungs. Your health care provider sends the sputum mucous or phlegm from deep in the lungs to a lab to test for TB bacteria. Your health care provider will monitor you closely while you take the medication. Speak with your health care provider if you want to take LTBI medications. It is also important to understand the medication side effects of each pill and to know when you need to call your health care provider.
A combination of pills is used for 6 months or longer. It is important to take all the pills you received, as directed. TB treatment takes a long time because the TB bacteria are strong and hard to get rid of. During your treatment for active TB, you will visit your health care provider regularly. They will ask you to provide chest x-rays and sputum to check that you are responding to treatment. Your health care provider will let you know when your treatment is complete. TB test T-Spot. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.
Tuberculosis TB. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Testing for TB Infection. Minus Related Pages. HIV suppresses the immune system, making it difficult for the body to control TB bacteria. Tuberculosis also remains a major killer because of the increase in drug-resistant strains. Over time, some TB germs have developed the ability to survive despite medications.
This is partly because people don't take their drugs as directed or don't complete the course of treatment. Drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis emerge when an antibiotic fails to kill all of the bacteria it targets. The surviving bacteria become resistant to that drug and often other antibiotics as well. Some TB bacteria have developed resistance to the most commonly used treatments, such as isoniazid and rifampin Rifadin, Rimactane. Some TB strains have also developed resistance to drugs less commonly used in TB treatment, such as the antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, and injectable medications including amikacin and capreomycin Capastat.
These medications are often used to treat infections that are resistant to the more commonly used drugs. A healthy immune system often successfully fights TB bacteria.
However, several conditions and medications can weaken your immune system, including:. Your risk of getting tuberculosis is higher if you live in, emigrate from or travel to areas with high tuberculosis rates. Areas include:. Without treatment, tuberculosis can be fatal. Untreated active disease typically affects your lungs, but it can affect other parts of your body, as well. If you test positive for latent TB infection, your doctor might advise you to take medications to reduce your risk of developing active tuberculosis.
Only active TB is contagious. If you have active TB , it generally takes a few weeks of treatment with TB medications before you're not contagious anymore. Follow these tips to help keep your friends and family from getting sick:. This is the most important step you can take to protect yourself and others from tuberculosis.
When you stop treatment early or skip doses, TB bacteria have a chance to develop mutations that allow them to survive the most potent TB drugs. The resulting drug-resistant strains are deadlier and more difficult to treat.
0コメント